Monday, March 14, 2011

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

What a long title, and what a long movie. This film was about, well, the assassination of of Jesse James by Robert Ford. Whether he's a coward or not is up for debate, but this film is a mostly sympathetic portrayal of both men, and a fascinating study of their often fraternal and tumultuous relationship. This is a really good movie, that I just can't recommend because it's so long, drawn out, and kind of boring. Also, for a film that's three hours long, we didn't really learn all that much about the titular characters about whom the entire film revolves. That's too bad.

However, as long and boring as it was, I did finish it, partly because I kept thinking the story would pick up eventually, but mostly because the acting was so fantastic. This film really had one of the coolest casts I've seen in a long time, with stellar performances from Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Sam Rockwell, and many more cool character actors. It was also beautifully filmed, with stunning landscapes and a few set pieces that were extremely well done. The train robbery near the opening of the film was flawlessly put together, and worked as something of a mini masterpiece in terms of filmmaking.

So... I liked it and have a lot of respect for it, but I can't really recommend it because it just wasn't all that entertaining. But if you're curious and want to learn more about Jesse James and the man who killed him, it's worth checking out.

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